Back on a health kick

We are right in the middle of baseball season and man, our food choices have gone RIGHT OUT THE WINDOW!!!  Frozen corn dogs, microwaved bean and cheese burritos, just ANYTHING quick with a little protein to scarf down in 10 minutes before we head out the door and are gone for 3+ hours!

Something had to be done.  For some ideas, I opened up my Nutrition Stripped cookbook to get some  inspiration for nutritious snacks and quick mini-meals.

If you follow me on instagram, you’ll see we tried the Buddha’s Nourish Bowl.  It was a nutritious-packed bowl that the whole family enjoyed.  I did change up the ‘sauce’ since my kids are pretty picky when it comes to their ‘toppings’ :).  Instead of citrus dressing, I heated up a pack of miso soup and drizzled that over our bowls. It was lovely!

I made the fresh pico de gallo to go on our tacos on Tuesday (TACO TUESDAY!) and it added a nice kick to our huevos rancheros for Cinco De Mayo.

But my favorite way to stay healthy is to kick-start the morning with wholesome goodness and McKel has quite a few suggestions.  Two of her breakfast recipes that I tried this past week were:

• Buckwheat Bircher Muesli Citrus Honey, and the Vanilla Bean Super Seed
• Beauty Papaya Potion (smoothie)

Buckwheat Muesli

I have done lots of overnight oatmeals and really loved them.  On my breakfast pinterest board there are at least 3 I’ve pinned and liked.  They are quick to prepare.  The oats soak up the Almond milk (or whatever nut milk you prefer) and they are ready to go the next morning, cold, or you can heat them up for a quick, healthy warm breakfast.

I liked McKel’s suggestion to change it up from oats to using buckwheat, but they didn’t soak up the milk like oats do.  There was still a lot of liquid left in the mason jars even after soaking all night.  I ended up microwaving them for 2 minutes and ate them hot, but they were still fairly liquid-filled.  The flavors were really unique and I knew I was eating something healthy for my body!  So those are positives for sure!  Next time I make them I am going to use less liquid and see how that works.

Papaya Potion

On the smoothy side, I had the Beauty Papaya Potion and this, my friends, was a win win!  And I learned about so many new healthy ingredients!  First of all, my kids got to learn what a papaya is.  Hee heee 🙂  I never purchase them in the stores for eating them plain is not my favorite.  I like my fruit a little sweeter.  But in a smoothy, it is fantastic!  Bonus: papaya is packed with Vitamin C & A which is necessary for producing collagen (Hello Gorgeous! 🙂 ) 

Ingredients: Nut Milk, Spirulina & Maca

I also made my own NUT MILK for the first time!  It was so easy!  I purchased a nut milk bag a while back on Amazon.  This recipe called for pumpkin-seed nut butter.  Blend 1 cup of those puppies with 4 cups of filtered water, strain and you have yourself a light green milk, ready to use nut-milk!  So easy!

A few other ingredients I learned about by making this smoothie is Spirulina Powder and Maca Powder.  Spirulina I found in the self-serve spice area at Fred Meyer.  It is a bright blue-green algae that is packed with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties.  Spirulina is also packed with vitamin B1, B2, B3, protein, copper and traces of almost all the daily vitamins we need. You can read more about this wonder plant here.

Then there’s Maca.  I had never heard of Maca Powder before.  I assumed I’d have to go to a whole foods market to find it but as I was checking out at Trader Joe’s, you know how the checker always asks, “Were you able to find everything you need?” So…I asked.  And sure enough, the ship bell rang, a worker ran back, grabbed a package, and ran it up to the checkout counter for me.  I love Trader Joe’s!  But hey!  Like Spirulina, this little mighty powder is rich in antioxidants and is known to enhance energy, mood and memory.  Now, what mama couldn’t benefit from this?!!!  Oh YES!

Coconut-nut Energy Bars

If you grab the 8 oz bag of Maca Powder at Trader Joes, you can try the energy bar recipe on the back.  I tried it on my Art Lit friends and my kids and all said, “YES PLEASE!”  In fact, I am snacking on one RIGHT NOW! 🙂

Coconut-nut Energy bars

• 1-2 Tbsp Maca Powder
• 1 cup macadamia nuts or cashews
• 1 cup dried pitted dates
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp. cocoa powder
• Water, as needed

Place all of this in a food processor and blend till crumbly.

Line a 9″ square baking pan with parchment paper.

With the back of  wooden spoon, press the mixture into the bottom of the pan.

Freeze for 30+ minutes till they are stiff.  Cut into bars and store in the freezer till you are ready to consume.

Blend some up today to get you thru the rest of the week in a healthy energetic way!

Happy hump day everyone!

xo, Meliss